| SPECIAL
REPORTS: VENEZUELA |
|
|
|
VENEZUELA:
Gov't - Opposition Talks Endangered
Humberto
Márquez
CARACAS, May 6 (IPS) - Venezuela's ruling
parties want the talks between the
opposition and the government to move to
parliament.
The announcement was made on the eve of a
visit by the deputy foreign ministers of
the ''group of friends'' countries that
are assisting the negotiating table in
seeking a solution to the political
crisis.
''We propose continuing the negotiations
through our own institutions,'' said Omar
Mezza, spokesman for the ruling Fifth
Republic Movement (MVR) party. ''The
dialogue should take place in the natural,
constitutional venue, the legislature,
because of its plural nature.''
The negotiating table ''fulfilled its role
by calming the political climate, and now
it is the turn of the legislature,'' the
vice-president of parliament, Ricardo Gutiérrez,
of the co- governing Podemos party, told
IPS.
''The dialogue was useful, and we do not
undervalue the efforts of the
secretary-general of the Organisation of
American States (OAS), César Gaviria,''
who brokered the talks, he added.
Gaviria's strategy was designed to keep
the political crisis from erupting in
another break with the constitutional
order, like the civic-military coup d'etat
that removed President Hugo Chávez from
power for two days in April 2002.
The negotiating table began to meet on
Nov. 4, led by Gaviria, who was
accompanied by delegates of the Carter
Centre -- founded by former U.S. president
Jimmy Carter -- and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
However, the negotiations between
representatives of the government and the
opposition Democratic Coordinator umbrella
failed to head off an indefinite general
strike declared on Dec. 2 by the leading
business association, Fedecámaras, and
the main trade union, the Confederation of
Venezuelan Workers (CTV).
The work stoppage, aimed at toppling Chávez,
lasted two months, and crippled this South
American country's oil industry and
economy.
The Democratic Coordinator, on a war
footing against the left- leaning populist
Chávez, a former paratrooper officer,
since last year, is comprised of 18
political parties, around 20 civil society
groups, Fedecámaras and the CTV.
Given the negotiating table's initial
failure to make progress towards an
accord, and at the urging of Brazil's
leftist President Luiz Inácio ''Lula'' da
Silva, who took office on Jan. 1, a
''group of friends'' was set up in January
to help the Venezuelan government and the
opposition find a way out of their
deadlock.
The group is made up of representatives of
the foreign ministries of Brazil, Chile,
Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United
States.
Chilean Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear
reported that the group of friends, which
has held meetings in Washington, Caracas
and Brasilia to contribute to the
negotiators' efforts to reach an
agreement, will meet against Thursday in
the Venezuelan capital.
Brazilian delegate Gilberto Saboia arrived
in Caracas Tuesday to become familiar with
the proposals advanced by the governing
coalition, meeting with four of its six
representatives in the talks:
Vice-President José Vicente Rangel,
Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton, and the
ministers of education and labour, Aristóbulo
Istúriz and María Iglesias.
José Albornoz, the secretary-general of
the Fatherland For All party, which forms
part of the ruling coalition, said ''the
negotiating table is dead. The opposition
has stabbed it to death, because the
delegates of the Democratic Coordinator do
not represent the entire opposition
movement.''
Gutiérrez agreed with Albornoz, saying
that ''in the parliament there is also a
climate now that did not exist when the
negotiating table was set up.'' That means
''the dialogue and the search for an
agreement should continue in that setting,
to reestablish a climate of normalcy and
cooperation in the country,'' he added.
Timoteo Zambrano, one of the opposition
movement's six representatives to the
talks, told IPS that ''the government's
aim is to prevent foreign collaboration,
and to get rid of international scrutiny
of the Venezuelan crisis.''
A legal adviser to the opposition
delegation, Juan Raffalli, also complained
that ''there are procedural obstacles in
parliament that make it impossible to
debate something that the government is
not interested in.''
The governing parties hold 84 seats and
the opposition 79 in the 165-member
single-chamber legislature. Although the
two remaining lawmakers are independent,
they are sympathetic to the government.
Last month, the group of friends welcomed
a ''pre-accord'' reached by the
negotiators to move towards an ''electoral
solution'' to the crisis, in the form of a
referendum in which voters would decide
whether or not Chávez should serve out
his entire 2000-2006 term.
But the ruling coalition delegates
objected to certain aspects, such as
supervision of the referendum process by
international observers. They also argued
that mayors and governors who have reached
the halfway point in their terms should be
subject to the revocation of their mandate
as well.
The 1999 constitution, promoted by Chávez,
stipulates that any popularly elected
official can be submitted to a referendum
on their mandate halfway through their
term, if the signatures of at least 20
percent of voters are collected to request
a vote.
Chávez reaches the halfway point of his
term on Aug. 19.
If the signatures are gathered and the
process moves ahead, the referendum would
be held before the end of the year. If Chávez
were to lose, he would be forced to call
early presidential elections and step
down.
But if the referendum is held after July
2004 and Chávez loses, the vice-president
-- who is designated and removed by the
president at will -- would take his place.
That explains the opposition's eagerness
to hurry towards a referendum, and the
government's interest in dragging its
feet.
But the opposition is facing its own
internal problems. Last weekend, Henrique
Salas and his Proyecto Venezuela party
claimed the right to name its own
presidential candidate, and pulled out of
the Democratic Coordinator.
The measure gave the ruling coalition an
opportunity to complain about negotiating
with an umbrella group that only
represents part of the opposition
movement.
Email
this page to a Friend
|
|
|
|
